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 p.3 #16 · NIKON Z 70200mm f/2.8 VR S II Released | |
Ripolini wrote:
Technically speaking, you're right. There is probably no "official" document that provides requirements, specifications, guidelines or characteristics of A-S-like plates, clamps etc.
However, the (photographic) market has adopted it as a "standard" in the sense that it is by far the best, most reliable, and most "copied" system for securing the camera to the head of the tripod.
Most of serious nature photographers (and I know many of them having been a member of the executive board of the Italian Association of Nature Photographers) use A-S compatible heads & plates.
Manfrotto and Gitzo QR systems are BS. I replaced the QR system of my Manfrotto head with a RRS clamp. At present I own three tripods (2 Gitzo, 1 Manfrotto) and three heads all with A-S compatible clamps.
Even chinese manufactures adopt it (I have a Sunwayfoto head too, with A-S QR clamp perfectly compatible with all my A-S, Wimberley, Kirkphoto and RRS plates).
Do you know of chinese companies manufacturing Manfrotto or Gitzo compatible clamps? What? they don't make them due to royalties? Come on ... They don't make because nobody would buy them.
Even Nikon understands now, finally, that A-S-like systems are what most serious/pro photographers prefer and use....Show more →
Many supposedly "Arca-Swiss compatible" products don't actually fit each other. I've run into issues fitting various American, European, and Chinese quick-release products to each other though each claim "Arca-Swiss compatibility" (many will fit across products, but some do not). I've run into an American "Arca-Swiss compatible" tripod collar foot not fitting on an actual Arca-Swiss head (not a copy, the real thing). Furthermore, many people use the tripod foot on their palm (when hand-holding a lens, to avoid hitting the manual focus ring constantly) and IMO sharp edges of the dovetail can be uncomfortable against skin when there is some weight. It may be that Nikon rounded those edges, we'll see. Another thing is that while the Arca-Swiss dovetail has the advantage of supporting large weights, while the screw-type AS quick release is secure, it's a bit slow and clumsy to use compared to some other systems which are quick but not necessarily secure in supporting a large, heavy lens such as a 600/4. There is a reason why specifically (long-lens using) nature photographers like Arca-Swiss, but they're not the whole market.
Nikon recognizes today that video is a big driver of the camera sales, and yet products designed and used for support during video recording are typically not natively equipped with Arca-Swiss compatible QR systems, though there are exceptions. For example premium fluid heads are made by Sachtler and Cartoni, and finding these manufacturers' fluid head models with Manfrotto plate compatibility is easy but Arca-Swiss is not directly supported (unless adding a third-party clamp as another layer on top of the manufacturer's quick-release plate). DJI also supports a mixture of Manfrotto, Arca-Swiss plates in their gimbal stabilizers, but looking at what they say:
https://support.dji.com/help/content?customId=01700007720&spaceId=17&re=US&lang=en&documentType&paperDocType=ARTICLE
On the RS 4 and RS 4 Pro, they say "Third-party Arca-Swiss and Manfrotto quick-release plates may not be able to be installed on DJI RS 4/RS 4 Pro."
Reassuring, isn't it?
I prefer fluid heads for long lens photography (when using a tripod) because the lightweight teles that are available now are so light that when combined with a gripped Z8 or Z9 they won't balance correctly on a gimbal head, and yet fluid heads can include counterbalance mechanisms which do allow correct balancing of these lenses even with TC (I recently got the 400/4.5 which is an example of such a lens), and you can mount smaller lenses from the camera on fluid heads but cannot do so with gimbal heads. So it's overall more practical solution for my needs. However, larger fluid heads that provide smooth movements for longer focal lengths, don't natively support Arca-Swiss QR plates. Gitzo's fluid gimbal does support Arca-Swiss compatible feet but it cannot be used to mount the camera for use with smaller lenses.
Nikon putting a specific quick-release plate in a lens collar supplied with the lens doesn't really solve the problem which is lack of standards in the field. Nikon themselves noting that it should only be used with the screw-lock and not fliplock heads illustrates one aspect of the problem.
I tried mounting my Arca-Swiss compatible plate on my DJI RS Mini 4 and it wouldn't fit, I had to use the one that came with the gimbal stabilizer. I could get an adapter from Smallrig, though, which is specifically made to make mounting Arca-Swiss compatible camera plates to this particular gimbal stabilizer.
The international standards organization (ISO should work on standardizing quick-release systems to solve the problem.
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